It's an unexpected rebound to say the least.
As of next Sunday, Willy Sagnol will officially be the new coach of the Georgia national team.
More than three years after his only game as interim coach of Bayern Munich (2-2 on the lawn of Hertha Berlin, October 1, 2017), the former right-back of the France team (59 caps) will s sit on the bench of the 89th world nation in the FIFA rankings.
"I am honored to join you as the new coach of the national team", reacted the person on the Facebook page of the Georgian team.
Retired from television since he left
RMC Sport
last May
, where he worked as a consultant since 2018, the native of Stéphane had expressed his desire "to find the world of football."
At the head of Georgia, Sagnol will have his third real experience as a coach, after eight matches with the Bleuets (6 victory between August 2013 and March 2014) and especially his two years on the bench of Bordeaux (88 matches between 2014 and 2016).
"The content of the discussions with the management as well as the potential of the team convinced me to take up this challenge," explained the Frenchman.
With hard work, a lot of discipline and determination, I am confident that together we will write a new page in Georgian football history. ”
Alain Giresse had also coached Georgia
At the head of the “Crusaders”, Willy Sagnol will take over from the Czech Wladimir Weiss, coach since March 2016. Eighth foreign coach at the head of the selection, the former Bayern player is also the second French coach after the short experience another former Bordeaux resident in the person of Alain Giresse (2004-2005), who had failed to raise the level of the team during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup (2 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses).
The playing field is the same for Sagnol, who will begin his mandate with a trip to Stockholm to challenge Sweden at the end of March, for the first qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup. Inside Group B, he will notably find Spain, with in mind the feat of qualifying this small nation of less than 4 million inhabitants for the first time in the final phase.
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